Use Your Ingenuity And Creativity For Good – The Urbanite Project

Returning this year is the Urbanite Project, a scheme set forth last year by the folks at Urbanite to encourage individuals to team up and develop creative ideas to make Baltimore a better place. This year, Urbanite is taking it up a notch -a BIG notch, and offering a chance to win $10,000 and the opportunity for contestants to bring their ideas to fruition.

We’re inviting self-organized teams to compete for $10,000 in prize money (provided by the MTA) and the chance to implement their solution to a pressing city issue: the quality-of-life issues brought about by the construction of the Red Line.

The proposed Red Line is a 14.5-mile, light rail transit line that will run west-east from Woodlawn through downtown Baltimore, Fells Point, and Canton to the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center Campus. It will link up with the existing light rail, Metro subway, and MARC train lines, creating a comprehensive transportation system that runs both above-ground, mostly on medians along existing roads, and in underground tunnels.

Baltimore, whose neighborhoods were once connected by a network of streetcars, is now served by one light rail line and one subway line, which do not serve many of the city’s neighborhoods in East and West Baltimore. The Red Line has the potential to not only alleviate traffic and provide all the usual public transit benefits, but also to create connections between communities that are traditionally separate.

Aside from these potential benefits, one major drawback of the Red Line is that construction could dramatically disrupt life in the communities through which it is to pass. Construction is expected to begin in the next five years and could last up to five years after that. Sections of this town are going to be torn up, with traffic stopped or slowed and pedestrian access limited.

While many look at the construction period and see nothing but hassle and inconvenience, this kind of disruption also brings opportunities. We think we can take advantage of this period to create a unique, vibrant, productive urban space. Call it creative urban design, installation art, whatever: We have an opportunity to turn this construction period into an economic benefit, help open up conduits of travel and communication along the route, and potentially leave a lasting positive impact on the city.

The deadline for entries is June 3rd. For more information, CLICK HERE.